Family of slain Palestinian refuses to receive Peres

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The family of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the teen killed in an alleged revenge attack, rejected a condolence visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Peres’ security detail was turned away Monday when it came to prepare for the visit.

Other visits reportedly have been canceled by police and the Shin Bet security service due to security concerns, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.

The family also rejected the condolence statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to an unnamed family member who told Maan that that “we refuse to accept the condolences of someone who agrees on the murder of our people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.”

A visit by a delegation of rabbis led by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau was canceled, though it was unclear if it was because the family refused to receive the delegation or out of security concerns.

The rabbis condemned the murder of the Palestinian teen in statements on Monday.

“We as religious leaders need to lead with a conciliatory message to prevent continued pain and bereavement so that no one else is harmed,” Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said.

Some Israeli government officials have come to the family’s home in eastern Jerusalem to offer their condolences, including Shelly Yachimovich, Amir Peretz and Avraham Burg of the Labor party.

The anti-racism organization Tag Meir was scheduled on Tuesday to bring over 600 Israelis by chartered buses for a visit Tuesday to the family’s mourning tent that the organization said was coordinated with the family.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday met with Tariq Abu Khdeir, the cousin of the murdered teen who was beaten by Israeli security forces during a riot on the day of the funeral. The teen’s family said he was the masked youth being beaten unconscious by Israeli soldiers in a video that is circulating on the Internet. The teen said he was not participating in the riot.

Comments

We (Jewish people) should not accept collective blame for what happened to the Palestinian youth. His kidnapping and murder was an horrific evil deed, perpetrated by crazies who happen to be Jewish and who will be punished by the Israeli legal system.
We as a people, do not glorify the killers. Instead try to offer solace, strength and compassion, to the family of the fallen boy. Has this ever been offered to the Jewish families whose members were taken away by terrorist acts? How often does an Arab official offer compassion and sympathy and a personal visit to the family of a fallen Israeli/Jew ?

WW1 which after a few years break led to WW2 was started by a zealots assasination of an archduke. It takes little to light a fire but an eternity to put out the flames of the subsequent conflagration. As far as the Israeli teenagers abduction and killing is concerned, I would still like to know (if that would be possible) if the intention was to hold them as hostages for a future prisoner exchange and that the kidnapers panicked when one of the boys fought back or when they say him calling for help on his cell phone. This does not excuse the action but may serve to illustrate what not to do in such situations. Standard procedures recommended by the police in many countries, is that in such situations to never lose your cool. If it is determined that the intention was murder and not hostage taking then I'm going to lose my cool and invoke for both the Arab and Jewish terrorists the biblical punishment both in the Torah and Koran "an eye for an eyer and tooth for a tooth, etc." and let them be executed in the same way as their victims. I mean that, I really do.